The trial of the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos against four women who denounced him for sexual and workplace harassment began this Friday in the Civil Court of Coimbra, as published The Country. The civil lawsuit filed by the sociologist accuses four of the 13 women who presented their testimony of attack their image, good name and honor and to which a public retraction is required.
The reported victims have accused the sociologist of try to silence them and stop their public accusations with this civil lawsuit. Numerous groups have shown their solidarity with the four accused. The harassment complaints presented through a report have not yet reached judicial proceedings, although there is an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office.
The report that first revealed these facts is titled Sexual misconduct in academia and it is the work of three researchers: one Belgian, one American and one Portuguese. In this text no specific names are mentioned, but reference is made to De Sousa Santos as “the star professor” and it is claimed that the events occurred between 2011 and 2019 at the Center for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, where the sociologist was a professor, as well as director emeritus of the CES.
The three authors point out how The institutions favored De Sousa to exercise this behavior of sexual abuse and abuse of power. Likewise, they accuse the sociologist of appropriating ideas and texts from researchers and academics. “The main objective is to contribute to opening a necessary debate in the academy about institutional responsibilities. Although our careers have advanced, we know that for many colleagues, the same obstacles have led them to leave and end their academic careers,” they assure in the text.
The Portuguese sociologist submitted an article, collected by The Countryin which recognized “inappropriate” attitudes towards womenbut denied accusations of sexual harassment by several researchers who worked alongside him.
The investigation by the Independent Commission ensures thatand there was “abuse of power and harassment” by senior positions in the hierarchy of the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra. The women who declared having suffered these abuses, however, regret that neither De Sousa Santos nor her assistant, also named, appear with their first and last name referred to in the investigation. Although among the complainants “there is a feeling of satisfaction” for the recognition, “they clearly feel that it is only the first step and that the conclusions are insufficient.”
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